


tell me honestly

by timelessidyll



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, I APOLOGIZE, Kinda, M/M, Mentions of Sex, Minor Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten/Seo Youngho | Johnny, Sugar Daddy, i explain jobs and stuff in the story, i use ten because of the culture behind thai names, not elaborated on tho lmao i'm not that risky, this is just a beautified crackfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-04
Updated: 2018-04-04
Packaged: 2019-04-18 04:43:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14205327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/timelessidyll/pseuds/timelessidyll
Summary: There's not much to say about the life Taeil led while Youngho was his roommate. It was typical of what you would expect from two best friends, and Taeil was fine with that. But things change, your old roommate moves out, and now there's an emptiness you didn't expect to feel. Obviously, the most logical thing to do is send out an ad for a new roommate that absolutely anyone can apply to.





	tell me honestly

**Author's Note:**

> this is 4k of whatever the heck i thought sounded okay. big thank you to ves for cheering me through it, even though it was her and nellie that made me turn it into a lowkey sugar daddy au.
> 
> if you follow my other works, you know i have a svt au on hold. please be patient with me as i attempt to crank that chapter out!

Taeil wasn’t used to coming home to an empty apartment yet. Ever since Youngho had moved in with Ten, Taeil had been alone, and while it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing – and he was happy for his friend – the loneliness persisted. The apartment seemed too big now, echoing rooms and bland halls. It had more space than he knew what to do with because Youngho had always been the fashionista between the two of them. So Taeil, being the stellar genius that he was, decided to put up an offer for a roommate.

 

He sincerely regretted that decision the moment he met the first applicant. He was quite possibly the dictionary definition of hipster, wearing an outdated fedora and a denim jacket on top of a long sleeved painfully red shirt. Taeil managed to force out a full two sentences before smiling and saying that he would, “call him if he gets the room.” He had no intention of doing that.

 

The second applicant wasn’t much better, since she brought along a vicious chihuahua with her and insisted that he be allowed to stay with her. The apartment complex didn’t allow pets, Taeil tried to tell her, when in reality it did and he simply wanted to discourage her from ever contacting him again. When she left, he still felt the stare of her chihuahua on him. Piercing through him with his beady eyes.

 

The third applicant wasn’t worth remembering. Everything they talked about flew out of Taeil’s mind the moment he left, including his name, and he slouched into his chair, ready for death to take him at any given opportunity. He was about to text Youngho and whine to him about how hard it was to find a decent roommate when the fourth applicant sat down in front of him and tried to get his attention. Taeil was shaken out of his thoughts by an awkward cough, and he blinked more than he should’ve as he tried to understand what he was seeing.

 

This man actually looked normal. He wasn’t wearing crazy clothes, just a simple checkered button up, although Taeil had no idea what his pants looked like. He hoped his pants were normal too. Even his bubblegum hair wasn’t a problem; if Taeil was being honest, it brought a softness to his appearance that countered his jawline and gaze. If it was possible to have a face cut him, Taeil believed that this one could. He realized he’d spent the last minute just staring at the man and suddenly scrambled into a more upright position.

 

“Oh, hi, sorry I, uh, zoned out a little,” he stammered, trying to pull himself together. He saw the man blink at his sudden outburst, but he felt a little better when he smiled at him anyway. “So, you’re here for the room posting, right?”

 

“Yeah, I am. Sorry if I startled you, you looked a little out of it.” His voice made Taeil want to melt into the seat; it was just the right mixture of rough and smooth, but not gravelly. He didn’t have a better description of it at that very moment, too busy trying to create a coherent sentence in his head that didn’t give away his internal gay panic. He was also trying not to slap himself for becoming infatuated with a man he met less than five minutes ago.

 

“No, you’re good,” he replied, thanking every god above that his own voice didn’t crack and he’d kept his unaffected composure. “So this is really a get-to-know the applicant meeting. I have kind of a weird deal if you didn’t already notice. I just kind of want company.” Taeil rubbed his neck out of habit.

 

“That’s not such a bad reason,” the man said while he let a smile spread across his face. “I haven’t even introduced myself yet, sorry about that. I’m Lee Taeyong.” He extended a hand and looked at Taeil expectantly.

 

He took the hand and shook it lightly. “Moon Taeil. So just tell me about yourself. You’re already doing better than every other person who’s applied.”

 

“We’ve only just started. Were they really that bad?” Taeyong looked like he was trying not to laugh again. Taeil looked at him forlornly.

 

“They really were.” This time, Taeyong did laugh, and Taeil would be lying if he said he didn’t fall a little harder.

 

* * *

He was falling so hard. That was the first admission he made to Youngho when he called him right after he’d finished with the sixth and final applicant of the day.

 

“Youngho, he really is the most perfect man ever,” he whined, tossing himself onto his bed. Youngho sighed on the other end of the line and got comfortable on his couch to prepare for Taeil’s rant.

 

“Hit me with it.”

 

“Let me start with his looks, you know, go from the outside in.”

 

“I don’t have a choice in this but sure.”

 

“Don’t slander me like this. Anyways, his jawline was so sharp, I’m ninety-nine percent sure if I touched it, I would cut myself. He had such cute pink hair, too, it didn’t match the rest of his face at all. He was really smiley the whole time too, but I just know that his eyes could kill someone if he got mad, he just had that look to him, Youngho.”

 

“Anything else to say about his appearance?”

 

“Yes! He was wearing this black and white checkered button-up and black slacks, but he is so muscled, Youngho, I saw his biceps through his shirt. I think I’m going to die.”

 

“Ok, moving on then.”

 

“Shut up, Youngho, if you keep this up I’m going to let Dongyoung steal your spot in my heart.”

 

“Would that be such a bad thing, though?”

 

“Moving on! He said he’s a dancer, which explains why he was so lean –”

 

“– Or he could be like you.”

 

“That was a one-time thing Youngho, now can you shut up and let me talk?”

 

“Fine.”

 

“Ok, besides being a dancer, he raps and creates tracks with a few friends, and he likes photography too. He said he would have shown me some of the shots he’d taken, but he didn’t have his camera on him, and you should have seen the way his eyes lit up talking about his hobbies. And then he talked about art and cooking, why is he a whole package boyfriend, Youngho, why?”

 

“So am I ok to talk now?”

 

“Sure, Jan.”

 

“Don’t call me Jan again, but you’re whipped. I don’t understand why you’ve fallen so hard for this guy, but the way you described him sounds familiar.”

 

“Do you know him?” Taeil asked, pinching his eyebrows together in confusion.

 

“I might. Ten’s been letting one of his dance group members crash with us because he just got back from a four-year music program overseas.”

 

“What’s his name?”

 

“Well damn, if you’d let me speak, I’d tell you! His name’s Lee Taeyong.” Taeil felt himself freeze when he heard Youngho say that familiar name.

 

“You’re kidding me. You have got to be kidding me, Youngho, this is not happening.”

 

“Why do you sound like a white girl?”

 

“I feel like a white girl! Because guess what? I am talking about Lee Taeyong!” Youngho fell silent for a few moments.

 

“I want daily updates on this drama.”

 

“Youngho!”

 

* * *

It was of absolutely no surprise to anyone that Taeil ended up picking Taeyong as his roommate. Of course, he would give the excuse that since Taeyong could cook and loved cleaning, he was obviously the best choice, but Ten, Youngho, Dongyoung, and Yoonoh all called bullshit. In the everlasting words of Seo Youngho, “Taeil, you’re whipped.”

 

But Taeyong didn’t seem to be aware of what exactly he was getting into. 

 

“So, Ten told me to get in touch with you about the roommate offer, but I don’t really know what the offer is, per se.” Taeil stopped humming under his breath and turned to stare blankly at Taeyong. All he got was a sheepish smile in return.

 

“So you just blindly believed him? You know Ten is the embodiment of Satan, just Thai?” Taeyong’s eyes shifted shamefully.

 

“I know, but I kind of didn’t really care at that moment. I went straight from uni to a program in Spain, so I didn’t really have a fixed home back here.”

 

Taeil sighed. “I guess with an explanation like that, I can’t fault you too much. But do your research next time,” he scolded, leading Taeyong out of the elevator once it reached his floor.

 

“Rules are simple: pull your own weight in the house, like groceries, laundry, and dishes, and don’t worry about rent or paying me,” he explained while he led the dancer to his door and pulled out his keycard. Taeyong’s face morphed into a mixture of surprise and confusion.

 

“Wait, why shouldn’t I worry about rent?” Taeil raised an eyebrow evenly and opened his door.

 

“Well, for one thing, I’m a lawyer, so I can already afford to have a higher end apartment. For another, Youngho was already a freeloader who didn’t contribute to anything except laundry and dishes, so you’re already better than him, and I have no problems with your financial situation.” He allowed Taeyong a few moments to stare blankly at the decór before leading him past the kitchen and living room to the hall with the bedrooms. “You can set your stuff down in either of the two empty ones, whichever you like best.”

 

“Wait,” Taeyong sputtered, reaching out to grab Taeil’s arm to turn him around. “You expect me to not pay you back? Especially when you live here?” He waved the arm he didn’t have bags hanging off of around at the rest of the apartment.

 

“Sure,” Taeil replied plainly. “After all, it gets lonely being here on your own.”

* * *

 

They had a rhythm; Taeyong obsessively cleaned every time he got stressed out, Taeil obsessively blasted music when he needed to focus, and together they obsessively baked and cooked enough food to feed a small army. Taeil also started to understand Taeyong’s moods. His eyes drooped when he was annoyed, thinning themselves subconsciously in response to his mood. He walked with his head tilted slightly to the side when he was tired, and when he was excited, he would hum under his breath a song he’d been really into recently. Taeil didn’t recognize all the melodies, so he supposed some of them were original compositions.

 

Taeyong was a good roommate. When Taeil locked himself in his room and surrounded himself with piles of paperwork on various lawsuits, Taeyong would check on him periodically to give him leftovers of their cooking sprees and make him take a break. Taeil would stop by Taeyong’s studio when it got a little too late to make sure he didn’t burn himself out. They had a system in place, one that Taeil was afraid to break at this point. He didn’t want to weird Taeyong out, to make what they had awkward, because right now they were comfortable. And Taeil was always bad at forcing himself out of his comfort zone.

 

Because of their roommate agreement preventing Taeyong from contributing to house costs, he found other ways to make himself useful. Taeil usually came back later than him, on the days Taeyong came home from the studio on time, so Taeyong made dinner and washed the dishes. The living room was always spotless, as was the halls, the ensuite bathrooms of the two guest rooms, and the living room, and he learned that Taeyong had a slight fear of germs. He didn’t enter Taeil’s room, however, probably because he didn’t want to invade his privacy. It wasn’t a big deal, he’d tried to explain more than once, but Taeyong just shook his head and smiled at him. To show his gratitude, Taeil resorted to buying things for Taeyong, as if letting him stay for free wasn’t enough.

 

The first gift was a jacket that Taeil thought fitted Taeyong well. It was styled like a bomber jacket, but it didn’t have the same fabric and the cuffs made it different. But it had patches all over it that reminded him of the dancer, like a purple diamond that was stitched with “feel the beat,” and a navy blue one that said “dance with your heart.” When Taeil gave it to him, Taeyong looked at him suspiciously and tried to ask him how much it had cost. Taeil gave him a smile and told him to take his gift, regardless of its monetary value.

 

The second gift was a small snow globe that Taeil bought for no other reason than he thought it looked cute. Inside, there was a small gray seal wearing a scarf, and in that moment, Taeil felt an inexplicable urge to buy it for Taeyong. The dancer took this gift much more easily than the jacket, smiling as he shook it around. Taeil could hardly focus on anything except how bright Taeyong’s face was, and he nearly missed the soft thank you that Taeyong gave him.

 

“Hey, I’m going shopping today,” Taeil said, leaning on the back of the couch right behind Taeyong so that he had to crane his neck back to look up at him. “Do you want to come with me?”

 

“Sure,” he said, picking himself up from the couch and turning off the tv. “Where are we going?”

 

“Just some outlet mall.”

 

It was not some outlet mall, Taeyong found out. It was one of the high-end malls in their city, the kind that had Chanel and Supreme. And while Taeil strolled through like he belonged there, all Taeyong could do was follow him around like a lost duckling.

 

“Taeil,” he hissed lowly, intimidated by the number of expensive items he was surrounded by. “I thought you said an outlet mall. This is a full-fledged mall, food court and all. And the food court only has pricey restaurants.” Taeil stared at him blankly.

 

“You mean you’ve never been here?” He asked, tilting his head questioningly. Taeyong widened his eyes and gave Taeil a disbelieving look.

 

“Of course not? I’m a dancer, I’m not made of money,” he said, gesturing at his outfit. He narrowed his eyes when Taeil didn’t change his expression, but it evened out when the other spoke again.

 

“Sometimes I forget that I’m actually rich,” Taeil admitted. “I really only come here because this my favorite suit shop is here, and before you question me again, it’s because they’re the only ones that have ever delivered my suits on time.”

 

“Th-that’s your reason? Satisfactory customer service?” Taeyong asked incredulously after staring at Taeil in silence. “I don’t believe you.”

 

“Well, it’s probably best that you do, because I don’t even know how to pronounce Dolce & Gabbana,” he remarks. This makes Taeyong grin, and most of his irritation disappears. They walk across the mall silently, Taeyong breaking it every now and again to gasp quietly at the fashion he saw. Taeil noticed but didn’t say anything, quietly watching Taeyong’s eyes glitter when they landed on an article of clothing that stood out to him.

 

“Don’t you dare even think of buying me anything,” he says, causing Taeil to blink and look at him in confusion. “I see that look on your face, you’re planning on spoiling me, aren’t you?”

 

“What’s the point of all that money sitting in my account if I’m never gonna use it,” Taeil smirks, enjoying seeing Taeyong struggle. It was cute to watch as he scrunched up his nose as he tried to articulate reasons why Taeil shouldn’t spend his money on him. “Alright, let’s do this. I’ll only buy you three things, and you can decide what those three things are. Sound fair?”

 

Taeyong huffed. “Fine.” It was enough to satisfy Taeil.

 

The three items Taeyong chose were the cheapest he could find – which wasn’t all that cheap considering the racks probably cost more than his weekly salary. After searching endlessly through more than fifteen stores, dragging an amused Taeil through the halls of the mall in search of the next stop, and an endless number of tried clothing, he found his three items. A pair of earrings that glinted in the blinding light of the mall and almost dangled to his shoulders, a plain black hoodie with a small logo in the corner, and a soft black and white striped beanie. Despite his best efforts, however, the price of those three things still ended up at almost $800, and he almost screeched when he saw that total. Taeil had the nerve to laugh at the incredulous look on his face.

 

“How about ice cream?” When Taeyong whips his head around to argue against Taeil spending any more money on him, he hurries to explain himself. “It’s not expensive at all, just a hole in the wall shop that I really enjoy.” Taeyong still looked skeptical, so Taeil just half-heartedly tugged at his arm to get him to start walking. With heavy steps, Taeyong followed him as Taeil led them through a maze of streets to the ice cream shop.

 

He’d been right about the “hole in the wall” description. The shop was rather narrow, and it looked like it had almost been shoved in between the surrounding buildings. The outside was a pastel pink and blue, alternating like cotton candy. Once they entered, a middle-aged woman came over to the counter and waved at Taeil.

 

“Hello again, Taeil honey. You’ve been gone a while,” she remarked, glancing slyly between Taeyong and Taeil. “Does it have anything to do with that fine man next to you?”

 

Taeil cheeks flushed almost immediately, and he stuttered as he tried to correct her. “N-no, I was just busy with work, Mary. I swear I would have come by before if I had time.” The pink blush of Taeil’s was so endearing to Taeyong that he had to resist the urge to coo at him. Instead, he found a table to set their stuff down on and returned to where Taeil was still talking to Mary.

 

“Alright, hon, what do the two of you want today?” After taking a quick glance at the menu, Taeyong ordered a green tea cone and Taeil ordered a fudge brownie sundae. Once again, there was a struggle between them on who would pay, and Taeil won out when Mary took matters into her own hands and snatched his card out of his hands.

 

“Mary, why are you supporting him,” he whined petulantly. “He’s already paid for almost everything today.”

 

“Sorry sweetie, but you know how Taeil is.” Taeyong knew exactly what she was talking about. He side-eyed Taeil the whole time they waited for Mary to finish making their ice cream, partially because he wanted to appreciate Taeil’s side profile and partially because he was annoyed at him. The shop was quiet except for the whirring of the machines, since they were the only ones who thought it would be a good idea for ice cream at ten in the morning on a weekday. Mary gave Taeyong his cone and Taeil his bowl and told them to enjoy.

 

“You know,” Taeil started after they’d sat down and started to eat. “I’m practically your sugar daddy.” Taeyong choked on his spoonful and took a moment to respond.

 

“W-what – why?”

 

“I buy you a lot of things because you’re cute and I like you, so I’m basically your sugar daddy,” he repeats. “The only thing missing is the sex.”

 

Taeyong would later say he had no idea where the sudden courage came from. One moment he was gasping for air, and the next he was leaning forward, tilting his head at Taeil and smirking in a way that he knew made people weak. He saw the way Taeil pulled himself back a little, his eyes narrowing as he watched Taeyong’s movements, and his smirk widened.

 

“We can fix that.”

* * *

 

Later, lying under the covers of Taeil’s bed, Taeyong felt himself drift off, exhaustion cementing in every bone of his body. Taeil was humming a song, drawing mindless shapes on his bare back. Every so often he would stop the song to place a soft kiss on Taeyong’s head, and Taeyong would return the kiss on Taeil’s collar bones. Even though the only thing he wanted in that moment was to sleep, Taeyong forced his eyes to open and glance up at Taeil.

 

“You have a pretty voice,” he rasps, his voice still recovering from how vocal he’d been. Taeil smiled sadly at him, letting the hand that wasn’t drawing on his back pet his hair. He sighed and got comfortable in the juncture of Taeil’s neck again.

 

“I used to sing,” he says by way of explanation. “Did it all through high school, played piano and guitar to accompany it too. I stopped because it was either throw my life for a gamble in the music industry or try to make my parents proud.”

 

“Are you happy with where that decision took you?” he asks again, barely hearing Taeil’s reply before he fell asleep.

 

“I am now that I have you.”

 

* * *

 

Youngho had a lot of complaints when Taeil invited him and Ten over for dinner, most of which concerned how Taeil hadn’t held his promise to keep him updated. “You never tell me anything,” he whined constantly, and even Ten offering him kisses all over his face wasn’t enough to make his pout disappear.

 

“Ten, keep your PDA out of my house,” Taeyong called from the kitchen. Taeil had to stifle a laugh as Ten retorted something about how Taeyong wished that he and Taeil were as cute as them.

 

“Calm down, baby,” he said, leaning across the counter so that he was closer to Taeyong. “You and I know they can’t hold a candle to us when we get going.” His efforts succeeded in getting Taeyong to loosen up, and he wished he could be next to his boyfriend so that he could kiss him more easily. Instead, there was a dumb granite countertop in his way, and he leveled said countertop with a glare so powerful he was surprised it didn’t disintegrate.

 

“Stop trying to gain laser vision, honey,” Taeyong said in a singsong voice, “you can kiss me once I finish making the pasta. Until then, could you keep the other two in the living room entertained?”

 

“Mhm, alright, I’m going.” He threw a flying kiss at Taeyong before giggling and heading to where Ten and Youngho were sitting on the couch.

 

“So what did you do on the first date?” Youngho asked, unable to contain his curiosity. Even Ten was intrigued by how their love story must have unfolded.

 

“I took him shopping and we went to eat ice cream at Mary’s afterward,” he offered vaguely and then smiling devilishly. “And then came home and had mind-blowing sex.” As expected, this piece of information made Youngho gape at him in confusion and Ten shriek in horror.

 

“Why are you like this!” he hissed angrily, looking perfectly prepared to wipe that smile off of Taeil’s face. Youngho was still trying to process that Taeil had actually had the nerve to say that, and as such didn’t freak out at all.

 

Instead, he looked Taeil right in the eye and said, “You are a legend.”

 

“Tell me something I don’t know,” Taeyong interjected, appearing behind where Taeil was sitting on the couch. He tilted his head back to look at Taeyong and was given a forehead kiss, much to his delight. He ignored the comments Youngho was making about their hypocrisy and focused on how bright Taeyong’s smile was. His roots were showing, and Taeyong had talked about dying them a deep red to match the concept of their next choreo. His eyes crinkled a little at the corners from the force of his smile. Seeing Taeyong here, with him, and being able to look at him like this, so adoringly, Taeil realized how lucky he was. This happiness was something he wouldn’t let go.

**Author's Note:**

> catch me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/bestofren) for more quality 2tae content


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